ed editions, and for sixty, if not seventy, years was the household Bible of the nation. The Genevan Bible was not only written in the vulgar tongue, but was printed for vulgar hands. A moderate qua

Bible, and was none the less admired by hi

rise of Puritanism, there had been symptoms of the coming revolution as early as 1543. Richard

he second of this month she brought forth to the Church of Christ a son, who, as the women say, is quite large enough for

s, and find that of

ed his name Gershom: for he said, I have bee

was fled from Pharaoh, who would kill him. The parallel t

," we have the following scen

r.I dist

lf voice, and

is th

Sand

er.Wha

errub

n man in any year of Mary's rule. Sanders might have had a young child at home so styled, but for himself it was practically impossible. So clearly defined is the epoch that saw, if not one batc

ity up and down the country it was as if a fresh spring of clear water had been found, and every neighbour could come with jug or pail, and fill it when and how they would. One of the first impressions made seems to have been this: children in th

e a great roll, and write in it with a ma

nceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord

her, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil

meaning the name was enrolled in English church registers, and by-and-

f direct significance given them. Above all, a peculiar emphasis

eive, and bear a son, and sh

ever been broken. The saints were shortly to be tabooed by the large mass of English folk; the festivals were already at a discount. Simultaneously with the prejudice against the very names of their saint

bald become Theobalda; and hence Tib and Tibot became so common among girls, that finally they ceased to represent boys at all. If it were one of the great holy days, the day or season itself furnished the name. Thus it was Simon, or Nicholas, or Cecilia, or Austen, or Pentecost, or Ursula, or Dorothy, became so familiar. From the reign of Elizabeth the clergy, and Englishmen generally, gave up this practice. Saints who could not boast apostolic honours were rejected, and holy men of lesser prestige, together with a large batch of virgins and martyrs of the Agnes, Catharine, and Ursula type, who belonged to Church history, received but scant attention. As a matter of course their names lapsed. But the n

or of holy offices, as of baptist, evangelist, etc., nor such as savour of paganism or popery: but chiefly such whereof there are examples

s, Mileses, and Henrys of the Teutonic, and the Bartholomews, Simons, Peters, and

or two quotations will show. Take the first four ba

dias, the sonne o

arnabas, the sonne

ckiell, the sonne

sthumus, the sonne

eems to have

ohn, the sonne of

Repentance"

d William Arnolde and

ttle later, from the baptis

ll, sonne of Michaell

ab, sonne of Michaell

daughter of Michael

a, daughter of Michaell Nich

oliab died of the plague in 1603. Both old Robert Pownoll

ere careful to set an exa

daughter of Roger Mainwaring, pr

, sonne of Mr. Richard Culverwell

, sonne of Thomas Newton,

y marvellous. On July 16, 1590, Archbishop Whitgift furnished the Lord Treasurer with the

t Snape added, saying, 'You must then give it a christian name allowed in the Scriptures.' Then Hodgeki

ceeded till they came to the pla

there, and would not in any case baptize the child. And so it was carried away thence, and was b

f the Presbyterian clergy did their best to uproot the old

de," delivered in Christ Church, London, said, while commenting on the first verse, "Our baptismal names ought to be such as may p

od name is as a thread tyed about the finger, to make us mindful of the

Tabitha, and Martha type. They were the property of the Reformation. Damaris bothered the clerks much, and is found

ristened Damaris, d

maris, d. of Doctor Kingsl

o instant popularity, is

tened Martha Wattam."

t run. The first

ed Phebe, d. of Harry Cu

n styled and entered Darcas. Every register ha

Dorcas

ois an

e, and Beter

Dorothy

oop it

our time

sa were also largely used. T

rsis, d. of William Hopkinso

ne. Then the great national names of Isabella, Matilda, Emma, and Cecilia ruled supreme. Then the four heroines Anna, Judith, Susan, and Hester, one or two of whom were in the Apocryphal narrative, had stamped themselves on our registers in what appeared indelible lines, although they were

ie old To

n, and bli

ffliction

ght him un

Anna, his

nne, and ek

unded London, the Bible had been ransacked from nook to corner. The zealots early dived into the innermost recesses of Scripture. They made themselves as familiar with chapters devoted solely to genealogical tables, as to those which they quoted to defend their doctrinal creed. The

y a hundred years in the south. Gawin figures in all northern registers till a century ago, and Thurston[14] was yet popular in the Fylde district, when it had become forgotten in the Fens. Scotland was never touched at all. The

les' folk. By slow degrees Cecilia, Isabella, and Emma lapsed from their pedestal, and the little babes were turned into Sarahs, Rebeccas, and Deborahs. As the seventeenth century progressed the state of things became still more changed. There had been villages in Sussex and Kent previous to Elizabeth's death, where the Presbyterian rector, by his personal influence at the time of baptism, had turned the new generation into a Hebrew colony. The same thing occurred in Yorkshire only half a century later. As nonconformity gained ground, Guy, and Miles, and Peter, and Philip became forgotten. The lads were no sooner ushered in

es into small centres of population, and the Church of England not providing for the increase, chapels were built. If we look over the pages of the directories of West Yorkshire and East Lancash

being a butcher. Jachin, known to but a few as situated in the Book of Kings, is in the person of Jachin Firth, a beer retailer, familiar to all his neighbours. Heber Holdsworth on one page is faced by Er Illingworth on the other. Asa and Joab are extremely popular, while Abner, Adna, Ashael, Erastus, Eunice, Benaiah, Aquila, Elihu, and Philemon enjoy a fair amount of patronage. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, having been rescued from Chald?an fire, have been delu

Bible hap-hazard, according to the village tradition, and selected the first name the eye fell on. It was but a year ago a little child was christened Tellno in a town within six miles of Manchester, at the suggestion of a cotton-spinner, the father, a workman of the name of Lees, having asked his advice. "I suppose it must be a Scripture name," said his master. "Oh yes! that's of course." "Suppose you choose Tellno," said his employer. "That'll do," replied the other, who had never heard it befor

indicated, he again asked, "What name?" "Ax her," she replied. The third woman, being questioned, gave the same reply. At last he discovered the name to be the Scriptural Achsa

Axar Starrs (a woman of

rt, of Stockport, Esq., and Axar Starrs

antic with the Pilgrim Fathers, and has prospered there ever since. It is still popular in Devonshire

t as in England, north of Trent, we can still measure off the ravages of the Dane by striking a line through all local names lying westward ending in "by," so we have but to count up the baptismal names of the peasantry of t

P.), and Aminadab Henley was dwelling in Kent in 1640 ("Proceedings in Kent." Camden Society). Shadrack Pride is a collector of hearth-money in 1699, and Gamaliel Chase is communicated with in 1635 (C. S. P.). Onesiphorus Albin proposes a better plan of collecting the alien duty in 1692 (C. S. P.), while Mordecai Abbott is appointed deputy-paymaster of the forces in 1697 (C. S. P.). Eliakim Palmer is married at Somerset House Chapel in 1740; Dalilah White is buried at Cowley in 1791, and Keziah Simmons is christened there in 1850. Selah Collins is baptized at Dyrham, Gloucestershire, in 1752, and Keturah Jones is interred at Clifton in 1778. Eli-lama-Sabachthani Pressnail was existing in 1862 (Notes and Queries), and the Times recorded a Talitha-Cumi People about the same time. The will of Mahershalalhashbaz Christmas was proved not very long ago. Mrs. Mahershalalhashbaz Bradford was dwelling in Ringwood, Hampshire, in 1863; and on January 31,